Most Embarrassing Moments
by Pink Wolf Princess
Summary: Just some talk among the retro Rangers and Mack; and then Mack and Adam have a talk alone.
1. Chapter 1

Yes, another one-shot plot bunny attack. Don't ask; and yes, it's true that I don't own the Power Rangers as said previously. Or NCIS, the one show that is more awesome than PR. PR is between NCIS and NCIS: LA. Alas I own none of them.

This occurs in the time before Mack goes all gung-ho and seeks out his teammates and gets the sword for the Sentinel Knight.

Not in the same world as most of my fics (like the fluff epics) save for "The Tardy Present". I like to count that one as canon.

* * *

It was nighttime in San Angeles, and the five retro Rangers were hanging out in the rec room of the Hartford mansion, eating popcorn and drinking cans of root beer. Bridge was also having buttery toast. Mack was there too, sitting cross-legged on the couch. He wore khaki pants and a red T-shirt. Scratching at his curly sandy hair he asked, "Hey, guys. Did you ever make mistakes as Rangers the first time around?"

There were four groans at that, which Mack roughly translated as 'oh, Lava Lizards and Chillers yes', and a so-so hand gesture from Bridge.

Xander shuddered. "Collectively it was really bad around the time of the Rock Porium's first anniversary… the five of us were experiencing hubris and using magic to do things we really should have doing by hand. In the end it nearly caused the end of the world… although we did end up getting a power upgrade because of it."

Tori nodded in understanding. "No kidding. Once I used my ninja powers to try to be in two places at once… it didn't end well."

"Jack and Sky as well as Z and Syd kept fighting so all five of us had to go and do some intense training to re-learn how to be a team," Bridge recounted. Mack looked over at the brown-haired guy from 2027, one of the few people since the Angel Grove days to have multiple morphers apparently.

"So wasn't that hard? Not having done anything but enduring the same stuff?"

Bridge looked confused. "But I could have tried to get everyone to get along."

"I guess the closest my team came to anything like that was when we learned that Anton Mercer, Trent's adoptive father, was the alter ego of Mesogog, our arch villain."

"Who's Trent?" Xander demanded. Kira blushed. "Now? My boyfriend. Then? The formerly evil White Ranger."

"Ah… yeah, Nick had major issues with Koragg-cum-Leanbow even before finding out that Leanbow was actually his birth father."

Almost everyone stared at Xander in surprise. Adam had already heard it from Kim.

"Okay…" went Tori before switching the subject. "Most embarrassing moment ever?"

Bridge blinked at her in utter bafflement. She leaned over and patted his unruly brown hair.

"It's okay. You don't have to do it."

The others all hid smiles.

Kira tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I guess that time some weird meteor switched all four of our personalities. I turned into a girly girl, Conner turned into a nerd, and Ethan was interested in just pumping iron and whatnot. It also turned Trent good for a little while though…"

Adam's smile faltered at the expression "pumping iron", and he gazed out at the skyline of the city outside the window. Bridge and Xander both looked over at the most senior Ranger. Due to them all having been Green at some point the trio had an extra close bond. Xander let Bridge, as the more senior and the 'Red' Ranger, ask the question.

"Adam? Are you all right?"

Adam turned back to the younger Rangers, a wryly wistful smile on his face as he replied with another question: "Have any of you ever heard of "the" letter?"

Tori, Bridge, Xander, and Mack all looked confused. Kira half-smiled.

"Dr. O. mentioned it to me once. It was after me and Trent had gotten together but had to do a long-term relationship with me going to New York and him going to art school. He said if I ever did anything resembling "the" letter he'd never forgive me. He seemed more than a little tense about it."

Adam smiled despite himself. "As he should be."

"Is this about his break-up with Kimberly and later relationship with Katherine?" Bridge asked curiously. Adam nodded. Mack commented, "Is it just me, or does it seem like this Tommy digs girls with names that start with K?"

For a minute the former Red Overdrive Ranger didn't understand why Kira was giving him a death glare. Then it hit him.

"I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!" he freaked out. Tori muffled a snicker. Xander for once was glad for having a male Yellow on his team judging from Kira's aura of anger which had Bridge sitting on his gloved hands to protect them. Adam told the younger Rangers to settle down, but Kira was still glowering at Mack as Adam elaborated.

"Yes, well. As far as I know-"

"As far as you know?" Tori echoed. Adam informed her, "It was before my time, as it was late freshman year when Kimberly and Tommy began dating. Rocky, Aisha, and I did not become Rangers until mid-sophomore year."

"It took you guys a long time to defeat Rita and her lot?" Xander questioned. "I mean it took me and my mates just about a half a year to defeat the Underworld, familial issues and all."

"Familial issues?" Kira stopped giving Mack the ptera glare to look at Xander in confusion.

"Well, Nick had to cope with Koragg-cum-Leanbow being his birth dad and Udonna being his birth mom. Plus they had to deal with Nick actually being their son Bowen."

"Cam was weirded out when he learned that Lothor was his father's evil twin," Tori conceded. Kira added, "And Trent had to deal with his adoptive father's alter ego being our arch villain."

All Bridge could offer was, "Sky was mean to Jack because his dad had been Red before he died so he wanted to be Red but Jack was Red and he wasn't so he was mean to him."

"I think you repeated yourself a few times there, mate," Xander laughed. Turning to Adam the Green Mystic Ranger asked, "So what exactly was the letter?"

"'The' letter," Adam corrected him. Tori laughed, "Okay, what was 'the' letter then?"

"It was 'the' letter where Kimberly broke up with Tommy."

Kira winced. "Not good."

"Try being the one reading it to Tommy!" Adam shuddered. Xander blinked. "Wait a minute, Adam. You're saying you read a letter that Kimberly wrote to Tommy to Tommy in which Kimberly broke up with Tommy?"

"Uh-oh," the Blue Wind Ranger observed. "Xander, I think you're learning Bridge."

"Well, my mom is always saying when I go somewhere new I should try to pick up a new language," Xander grinned. Tori and Kira muffled their groans. Mack asked, "Why were you reading the letter to Tommy?"

"Tommy was lifting weights in the Gym and Juice Bar when it came. He had just one set left, and I guess he figured that the letter would be mostly about what Kimberly was up to in Florida and since everyone was there I guess he figured it'd be nice for everyone to hear the news from the former Pink Ranger."

Tori raised her eyebrows. "By everyone you mean…?"

"Me, the Green Ranger. Rocky, the Blue Ranger. Kat, the Pink Ranger. Tanya, the Yellow Ranger. And even Billy, our tech support. Of course Tommy was Red and it was before Jason had become the Gold Ranger. So it was literally everyone except Zordon and Alpha."

"Oh…" Xander winced. The other junior Rangers looked equally discomfited.

Adam sighed, "So I started to read the letter. When I got to the part where she started to break up with him I probably looked like an anime character."

"With the huge freaked-out eyes and the sweat drop on the temple?" Bridge asked.

Adam nodded. "Yeah. Actually the rest of us all looked a little like that. Well, Kat not so much as a part of her was doing loop-de-loops against her conscious will. But she was majorly freaked out too. Tommy was just… quiet. I had never seen him like that before, and thankfully haven't seen him like that since. We were all blindsided. None of us saw that coming."

Mack observed, "I can't imagine Rose ever doing that to any boyfriend she might get."

"Same here with V," Xander had to admit. Bridge had to agree, "Syd would not be so low-key and sudden about a break-up."

Tori and Kira exchanged a shrug, having been the only girls on their respective teams. Pinks were mostly a mystery to them. Adam sighed, "I don't think Kimberly ever imagined doing that to a guy… but she realized that her heart didn't belong to Tommy, and that even though he was trying he losing the war to keep his heart from Katherine."

"So maybe a part of him was doing loop-de-loops over the chance he could now get with Katherine?" Mack frowned. Adam admitted, "Since despite what a lot of Rangers think-"

Here Kira blushed furiously.

"Tommy is human, and maybe in some corner of him that did happen. But that's why she wrote the letter. They were close, but I think distance made them see they weren't close in that way."

Adam sighed, "That was my most embarrassing moment as a Power Ranger with any of my three morphers. I had to learn before anyone else (well, except for Kimberly) that Kim was breaking up with Tommy. I read 'the' letter first. Not fun at all."

"Makes my moment of nearing turning into a tree because of a giant pimple look not so bad," Xander sighed. Tori admitted, "Definitely worse than Blake and Cam fighting over me."

The Yellow Dino Ranger looked over at her. "When did **that** happen?"

"Love potion of Lothor's."

"Udonna won't teach us love potions," Xander complained. Mack grinned, "If you were one of my students I wouldn't teach love potions either."

"Ungrateful ingrate," Xander retorted, but his eyes were laughing.

Kira looked Bridge up and down. "Bridge, have you ever been embarrassed?"

After taking a minute to think it over Bridge replied, "Yes. Syd made me dress formally for her nineteenth birthday party. I looked weird in my tuxedo and the black velvet gloves, and they made my hands itchy. But she said I couldn't wear my brown leather gloves to a formal party. So Z had to drag me off after I kept scratching at my hands. But on the plus side that's how we got together!"

"Not going to ask," Tori shook her head. Then she yawned. "It's getting late. We'd better go to bed."

"Yeah," Kira yawned. As she stood up and walked off she Gibbs-slapped Mack, apparently still upset with him over the 'K' comment.

"Ow," he protested as she left the room. Bridge ate his last piece of buttery toast before standing up, his empty plate in hand.

"Well, good night, everyone."

Tori had a last handful or two of popcorn before heading off to bed. Muttering something about getting his good-looks sleep Xander also left. So Mack was left alone with a pensive Adam.


	2. Chapter 2

The plot bunny decided to be multi-chaptered. Or rather a two-parter, I hope. Same as last time: I own nada.

* * *

"You missed it more than the other four, didn't you?" Mack asked. It had been hardly a few weeks and already the pain of being a Ranger, of being with his team, was almost more than he could bear. Adam sighed, sipping his can of root beer. They were now alone in the rec room of the Hartford mansion, the other retro Rangers having gone to bed.

"Part of it was that longevity Xander mentioned. It's harder to adjust to being "normal" after being "abnormal" for a longer period of time. I was a Ranger from mid-sophomore year to late in the summer after graduation. And you get a better chance to bond with your teammates."

Mack half-laughed. "I can't imagine knowing Will, Dax, Ronny, Rose, and Tyzonn any better than I already do."

Adam disagreed.

"The longer you're together, the closer you get. I think that's why it hurt so much to read 'the' letter to Tommy. He had been my leader for as long as I had been a Ranger, first as the White to my Black and then the Red to my Green. Of course, Rocky and Aisha had become Rangers the same time as me so we were extra close too. And Kimberly and Billy… they had memories that even pre-dated Tommy."

Mack murmured, "And Tommy was just the sixth Ranger."

"Affirmative," Adam said, something of an inside joke reflected in his voice. For the first time Mack fully understood the impact of the man in front of him. A Ranger who had ties to the very beginning of the Power Ranger legacy, even more so than Kira because where Kira had 'just' Dr. O. Adam was in fact one of the users of the original Power Coins. Such thoughts made Mack feel small, and even embarrassed.

"Sometimes I have to wonder," Adam mused more to himself than to Mack, "are the ten of us really just human? Or mortal would be a better way to put it with all the aliens out there. Or is it like Xander was saying… just hubris? But there's no doubt that Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Master Vile, the Machine Empire, and Divatox were all terribly powerful. And let's not forget Dark Spector, even though I never fought against him he was very powerful. Powerful enough to compel Zordon to make the ultimate sacrifice in the end. Even Thrax pales somewhat against the evil his parents once were. The Master Org, the Underworld and this Emperor Gruumm Bridge mentions alone sound like they could almost match those evils. Trakeena and her lot; Queen Bansheera and her demons; Ransik and his mutants; Lothor and his space ninjas; Mesogog and his plots to turn back the clock to the dinosaur days; and these squabbling Flurious, Moltor, Miratrix, Kamdor, and Fearcats all would tremble before them. No offense, Mack."

"None taken," a surprised Mack replied. For a while there he had thought Adam had forgotten he was there. Looking him in the eyes Adam continued seriously, "We ten were called to duty so young… especially the first six, to be honest. Of course, there's also Justin. He was just eleven going on twelve when he first morphed. But him being the Blue Turbo Ranger was a choice, and one I'm grateful he made. The first five had no choice at all. So often at least one Ranger early on attempts to break out of being a Ranger, to break with their destiny."

Mack had to look away, remembering Will's reluctance to be part of the group and Dax's attempt to rejoin the movie life. And of course their miserable return to their 'real' lives when their connection the morphing grid had been broken.

"See?" Adam whispered. "But from what I've heard you were one of the smart ones. You went after your destiny despite what your father said; you knew it at once and didn't stop until you got it."

"I just wanted an adventure," Mack mumbled, more embarrassed than ever. Adam laughed. "We all do, Mack. But you wanted to make a difference. And deep down all Rangers do. And don't fret over your teammates. A lot of Rangers go through similar things early on."

"Really?" Mack asked dubiously.

Adam chuckled, sipping his root beer. "Oh yes. Carlos and Jason and Tommy all tell me stories about the earlier Rangers plus Tommy knows a bit about Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder while Nick has told Kim all about Mystic Force. And then Kim tells people, including me. SPD is a bit of a mystery to all."

"So?"

"Not any problems, really, in the Angel Grove days. We were the first, and well we never questioned our destinies as Power Rangers. We knew the enemy and knew that we had to fight them. That spell they put on Rocky doesn't count. Leo, in Lost Galaxy, was the first one to have real issues about being a Ranger. After his brother's apparent death he had self-doubts for a long time over his abilities to lead the team. Joel in Lightspeed Rescue wasn't too keen on being a team player; rather like your Will in that regard."

Mack half-smiled. "Same confidence?"

"Oh, yes," Adam laughed. "Oh, yes. Then in Time Force Wes and Jen were at odds for a time because after some initial denial over the whole thing Wes came to his senses while Jen mistrusted a teammate. That's a fatal mistake."

Mack flinched, remembering the time where he and the others had almost no other choice beyond mistrusting Will. Correctly interpreting the flinch Adam shook his head almost sadly.

"I still say your father made a misjudgment with that action."

"He did what he thought was best."

"His idea of best is more than a little different from Zordon's idea of best," Adam replied cryptically. "But whatever. Taylor tried to stay leader when Cole came, even though he was better-suited to the role (which was _why_ he was Red) and they all knew it- including Taylor. Merrick simply refused to be part of the team, at the cost of his own happiness in the end. I hear Shane had issues being Red at the start, as did Conner. Dustin had issues when he got famous for a bit while Trent, again, made the issue of not trusting his teammates once he became good with the end result of nearly losing their trust in him."

"The whole Mesogog's alter ego being his adoptive father?" Mack hazarded, finally remembering his own nearly untouched can of root beer. Adam nodded.

"From what Bridge has said, it sounds like Jack and Sky clashed a lot, more than any two Rangers on a team ever should in my opinion. It wouldn't surprise me if Jack had problems adjusting to being Red and Sky had problems adjusting to being Blue. Kim says Nick tried to deny first his fate as the Red Mystic Ranger and then his fate as the Light on top of the by now usual issues- Xander's pride causing him to turn into a tree-thing, Vida's curiousity turning her into a vampire, Madison and Nick's emotional tension causing issues, Nick having general trust issues, and Chip's loss of control having almost very serious consequences. Not in that exact order, of course."

"Of course," Mack sighed. "Adam, but why didn't you and the other early Rangers try to fight it? Being Rangers, being a team?"

For a long time there was silence. Mack had all but finished his root beer by the time Adam spoke again.

"We just knew. It helped that a lot of us already were friends before being Rangers. I mean, I hear the first five hung out together almost nonstop even before they were Rangers. Tommy was new to town when Rita opted to make him her Green Ranger, so it was easy for him to adjust to being part of the team. I was fairly new to Angel Grove as well when I first became a Ranger, but I had made good friends with Rocky and Aisha by the time we learned about the Rangers' identities, let alone become Rangers ourselves."

Adam sighed, leaning back against the couch.

"Again, Kat was new when she became involved with us, so she also had few problems getting into the fold. Same for Tanya. Justin didn't really have friends before being a Power Ranger, so again. TJ and Cassie had met and were already becoming friends when they arrived in Angel Grove. Ashley and Carlos kind of knew each other, but clearly didn't know TJ and Cassie. But the four quickly bonded, especially as they all viewed Justin as a baby brother… which is weird considering how he was actually the most senior Ranger of the five."

Both laughed.

"Andros's home planet had been all but destroyed when he teamed up the quartet- Justin had stayed on Earth. So he knew the risks. Was it hard for him to settle into the group, especially as he had to be their leader? Sure. It helped that all of them knew that Andros and Ashley had galaxy-sized crushes on each other."

"Ah," Mack blushed faintly, suddenly finding himself thinking of Rose.

"Zhane was Andros's best friend and the other Rangers liked Andros so they welcomed Zhane. And Zhane was a friendly guy so it didn't take long for everyone to be a cohesive unit. But I guess most importantly we didn't have real lives before being Rangers. I mean, other goals we were working on at the time. We could focus on being Power Rangers. Maybe the Power intended it that way, to ease the way for you all."

Mack vaguely grasped by 'you all' Adam was including from Leo of Lost Galaxy to the new Mercury Ranger Tyzonn. He joked, "Thanks."

"Yes, well," Adam smiled ruefully. "Despite what Kira says Tommy said at the end of Dino Thunder, I think he would leap at the chance to be back in the spandex. Don't tell any of the geniuses that I called our suits that though."

"Right," Mack nodded.

"We all would. Actually, Zack is mad at me because I've gotten to be the Black Power Ranger twice since Mighty Morphin ended. He says he should get a turn to use the Black Power Coin again. I told him once there are 11 Black Rangers including me he can rally them all up and lead them on a "Blacks Forever" mission."

"Blacks Forever?"

"You'd be jealous if I explained," Adam waved it off. "So we all miss it as much as you do now. Well, that's not true. We all got closure. You didn't. The closest I can get is when the six of us were turned into kids and Zordon had to call in the Aquitar Rangers… that was annoying. But they kept the world safe while we got the Zeo Crystal shards to get everything back to normal and to get new morphers. Poor Billy."

"Oh?"

"It's a series of embarrassing stories about him," Adam half-smiled. "Since he's part Wolf I won't get into them. He doesn't like to talk about those misadventures, let allow let others talk about them."

Something had happened which led to Billy not being a Zeo Ranger, Mack theorized. But he wouldn't pry. He wouldn't like it if a Ranger from another team tried to get one of his teammates to tell embarrassing stories about _him_.

"But was it worth it? Was all of it worth all of it?" Mack asked, hoping his slightly sleep-deprived question would make sense. Apparently Adam could understand it because after a moment he nodded seriously.

"Yeah… it was all worth it. Embarrassing moments and all. I wouldn't trade a single minute of it for anything."

"Not even for more time in the spandex?" Mack pressed. Adam chuckled, drinking the last of his root beer before replying.

"It's **because** of every minute I spent as a teenager as a Power Ranger that I want to do it again. But I think we all figure you younger Rangers deserve your fun. Well, all of us except Tommy anyway."

Mack had to grin. "At least he has a multicolored wardrobe. Literally two-thirds of my wardrobe is red now."

Adam looked down at his black tee, black sports jacket, and dark jeans. "I have a lot of green in my closet. I just didn't pack any. Why wear green when I'm going to be wearing black?"

"That makes sense."

Adam stood up and stretched his back. "Well, probably another long day tomorrow. Night, Mack."

As Adam started to head for the door Mack suddenly confessed, "So far my most embarrassing moment as a Ranger was when I was under a bad luck spell and had to use all my friends' lucky items to try to break it."

At the door Adam turned back to face the young Ranger, and smiled at him.

"I hope that stays your most embarrassing moment."

"Me too. Night, Adam."

For a long time Mack still sat there, recalling all his Ranger adventures and wondering if he would ever have another one. He hoped so. To go out like this would be, well, embarrassing.


End file.
